Metallic wire packing



(No Model.)

J. A. PRINDLE.

METALLIC WIRE PACKING.

No. 392,931. Patented Nov. 13; 1888.

INVENTOR.

WITNESSES.- 7%

I llNirso STATES ATENT Orrrcs.

JOHN A. PRINDLE, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

METALLIC WIRE PACKING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 392,931, dated November 13, 1888.

- Application filed August 1, 1888. Serial No. 281,681. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J OHN A. PRINDLE, of Cleveland, in the county of Guyahoga, and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Wire Packing; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to metallic wire packing, and more especially to the groove or seat for such packing-wire, whereby the ends of the packing-wire are crowded together and made to form a tight joint by being pressed down into its seat.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown myimproved packing in connection with pipecoupling, although it is equally well adapted for various other purposes.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through the center of the pipe-coupling. Fig. 2 is an enlarged section of the same, showing more clearly the groove or seat for the packingwirc. Fig. 3 corresponds in size with Fig. I and shows a plan of the wire packing-ring detached. Fig. 4 shows a seat for the packingwire on each member of the coupling. Figs. 5 and 6 are plans showing a manner of arranging the wire at corners where the packing-ring is not of a circular form.

A represents a packing wire'ring, preferably brass spring-wire. The packing-wire is bent into circular form, as shown in Fig. 3, or into other form, if need be, to correspond with the seat prepared for it. The ends of the wire are dressed accurately, so as to abut or otherwise engage each other fairly in sectional contact, the packing-wire being of such length that the ends thereof meet, or approximately meet, when the packingwire is laid without pressure in its seat.-

B represents the seat, the same being a groove having walls of unequal slope, the inner wall, I), being, if not vertical, more abrupt'than the outer wall, I). It is evident that if the face of the inner wall, I), were perpendicular to the plane of the packing-ring the ring would not be distended, and consequently the ends of the ring would not draw apart in pressing the wire down onto its seat. The outer wall, I), slopes inward, as shown, and will therefore tend to compress the packingring, making it less in circumference, or tending to press the ends together as the wire is forced onto its seat.

If the packing-ring be made of brass springwire, it will sustain all the pressure that is likely to be brought to bear upon it without flattening the wire, by reason of which such wire packing maybe used over and over indefinitely. A groove or seat, B, may be made on both members of the coupling, as shown in Fig. 4, if preferred. For smaller work,where small wire is used for the packing, only one face would be grooved; but where the packing-wire is very large both faces had better be grooved or seated. As aforesaid, this packing is not necessarily confined to pipe couplings, but may be used for a variety of purposes-for instance, for packing cylinderheads, steam-chest covers, &c.

If the packing-rings must be of a rectangular form, in most cases the corners may be rounded, as shown in Fig. 5, in which case, as the joint a of the wire comes midway of such rounded corners of the seat, the ends of the wire will be forced together, as aforesaid, making a tight joint. In case the seat B must have square corners, the ends of the packingwire may be dressedon a miter, as shown in Fig- 6. The bottom of groove B need not make a sharp angle, but should be rounded instead, as shown more clearly in Fig. 2, but should have a radius less than the radius of the wire packing, so that the wire packing can never strike bottom in the groove or seat.

It may be remarked that if the two walls of the seat have equal slope there will be no tendency either to crowd the ends of the packing-wire together or to draw them apart, from which will readily be understood the action of the unequal slopes of the two walls. In stead of dressing the ends of the wire square across, they might be dressed obliquely, so as to overlap each other; but it is much more expensive to make such oblique joints, and consequently I recommend the square abutting ends.

WVhat I claim is The combination, with metallic wire pack- In testimony whereof I sign this specificaing-ring having abutting or engaging ends, of tion, in the presence of two witnesses, this 6th seat or groove for such packing, such seat or clay of July, 1888.

groove having Walls of unequal slope, the in- JOHN A. PRINDLE. ner Wall being more abrupt and the outer wall Witnesses: being more inclined to the plane of the paclz- CHAS. H. DORER,

ing-ring, substantially as set forth. ALBERT E. LYNCH. 

